White House task force turns eye to violent video games

The White House task force charged with crafting new violence prevention policies shifted its attention from metal firearms to the digital variety on Friday when Vice President Joe Biden met with representatives of the video gaming industry.

The meeting comes during the latest argument over what role - if any - violent video games play in influencing real-life aggression and crimes such as last month's rampage shooting in Connecticut.

Adam Lanza, the shooter who killed 20 children and six women at Sandy Hook Elementary School, as well as his mother and ultimately himself, is also reported to have been a video game player.

The same is true of millions of other Americans. Nonetheless, some have pointed to the explicit violence contained in some of the gaming industry's most popular titles as a contributing factor to violence or anti-social tendencies.

There is an abundance of research to support both sides of the argument and there's no question that many of the medium's most popular franchises, such as "Call of Duty," traffic in depictions of explicit carnage and, despite the industry's ratings system, are often played by minors.

Although it is uncertain whether Biden's group will propose any legislation to restrict or regulate the gaming industry alongside new gun control proposals, the industry is wary that Washington may decide to get involved in their business.

"Games are a popular scapegoat for societal ills now, joining the illustrious ranks of hip hop, rock and roll, and comic books ... and we want to make sure we're not stuck with any restrictions that marginalize or restrict the medium's potential," said Patrick Miller, editor of Game Developer Magazine.

The gaming industry abides by a ratings system that roughly mirrors the film industry's system.

An "M" rating is more or less the same as an "R" rating. Activision's "Call of Duty" franchise is the industry's current sales king and its latest iteration, "Black Ops II," earned an "M" rating for its depictions of "blood and gore" and "intense violence."

"Black Ops II" was released on Nov. 13 and players purchased more than $1 billion worth of copies during its first 15 days on the market.

"Black Ops II" is a Hollywood-esque depiction of combat set during the Cold War and near future. The "Call of Duty" series is most popular for its online multiplayer mode. Players view the action from the first-person perspective of a virtual soldier and compete to record the highest number of kills against other players.

A law professor who co-authored a study on game violence said the fact that many popular games reward players for virtual acts of violence is a reason for the government to step in.

Deanna Pollard Sacks, who holds an appointment at Texas Southern University, is one of three authors of a paper that appeared in May 2011 in the Northwestern University Law Review.

Sacks and her colleagues studied the scientific research submitted by both sides in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, a case over California's attempt to regulate game sales that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

They decided that researchers who determined violent games can harm minors presented a stronger case than their opponents.

The Supreme Court, however, overturned California's law on free speech grounds in June 2011.

If the government cannot regulate games, Sacks suggested something along the lines of anti-smoking advertisements to warn parents that playing violent video games may lead to anti-social behavior, such as lying or cheating.

"It's the constant programming that good things result from acts of violence," Sacks said.

Biden's group is expected to present anti-violence proposals Tuesday.

Friday's meeting followed what appeared to be a fruitless encounter on Thursday between Biden and other administration officials with the National Rifle Association.

If there were any serious attempts to find common ground, they must have been fruitless. The NRA quickly dispatched a press release stating "the meeting had to do with keeping our children safe and how much it had to do with an agenda to attack the Second Amendment."

The idea that violent video games and entertainment may share some blame for mass shootings are one of the few things that a gun control advocate like Biden and a gun rights advocate like National Rifle Association chief Wayne LaPierre can agree on.

More famously, LaPierre said during the NRA's first post-Newtown press conference as a "a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells and stows violence against its own people."

LaPierre singled out such games as the long-controversial "Grand Theft Auto" and "Mortal Kombat" series, as well as an obscure title called "Kindergarten Killers."

LaPierre excoriated the media for either not knowing about - or refusing to report on - the last title.

University of Redlands political scientist Renee Van Vechten said that while the NRA may like to see the government try to control the entertainment industry, instead of the firearms industry, she does not expect to see Congress to seriously attempt censoring games or cinema.

"It's certainly not going to be a centerpiece in any way, shape or form," she said.

Aside from First Amendment concerns, the entertainment industry is a big donor to Democratic campaigns, Van Vechten said.

Game developers and players do not want to see their industry regulated, but they do not ignore controversies over violent games.

One of the industry's most important events is the E3 Convention that takes place every June at Los Angeles Convention Center. The fact that many game publishers highlighted violent content in their promotional materials led many game journalists and fans to debate such questions as whether publishers were giving shock appeal too much attention at the expense of storytelling and gameplay.

"I'd say that, in general, the industry's level of respect for the use of violence as a narrative tool - learning how to use it sparingly, or to make the player feel different emotions in different contexts, for example - has only grown as we collectively get better at making games," Miller wrote.

"But there are many (developers) and industry professionals - including myself - who think it still has a long way to come."